Reading: Tama the Cat Station Master

Answers and an explanation for each question appear once you add this activity to your own library.

How to use this lesson

For the teacher:

Set a 12-minute timer for students to read the story and answer all 8 questions. Ask students to check their own answers and read the evidence lines aloud in pairs.

For the learner:

Read the short story about Tama carefully before you look at the questions. Answer each question, and check the evidence sentence if you get an answer wrong.

Tama, the Cat Station Master

Tama was a cat. She lived in Japan and worked at Kishi Station in Wakayama. In 2007, the railway company made her the station master. Her job was to greet passengers, and she had a small station master's hat. She did not get money. Her salary was a year of cat food. Many tourists came to see her, and more people used the railway. Tama died in 2015.

Word Help:

station master: the person in charge of a train station.
passengers: people who travel in a train or bus.
salary: money or things you get for doing a job.

1. True or False: Tama was a real dog that lived in Japan.

____ True ____ False

2. True or False: Tama had a small hat for her job.

____ True ____ False

3. Where did Tama work?

____ a. At an airport in Tokyo ____ b. At Kishi Station in Wakayama ____ c. At a pet shop in Osaka

4. In which year did the railway company make Tama the station master?

____ a. 2000 ____ b. 2015 ____ c. 2007

5. What was Tama's daily duty at the station?

____ a. To greet passengers ____ b. To sell tickets ____ c. To drive the trains

6. Match each item to what it refers to in Tama's story:

Item

Salary

Visitors

End of Life

A year of cat food

____Salary ____Visitors ____End of Life

Tourists

____Salary ____Visitors ____End of Life

The year 2015

____Salary ____Visitors ____End of Life

7. What happened to the railway because tourists came to see Tama? (Fill in the blank)

More people used the ____.

8. In what year did Tama die? (Write the year)

____

How to use this lesson

Tama, the Cat Station Master

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